April Martin - Prop maker | 3d Artist
  • Blog
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Videos
  • Contact
  • Shop

Has it really been a year since I posted?

11/19/2025

0 Comments

 
I'd like to say that I've been more active on my other socials, but I really feel like I've barely posted at all this year. 
It's been a time for buckling down and just working. 
I did receive an awesome commission by a solo dev to do a character similar to Priscilla. It's pushing me artistically and technically. I hope to show more of it soon. 
Been pushing myself to sculpt more on Nomad on my Ipad. Also did another Webtoon sculpt from the series "Marionetta", in Zbrush on my PC. 
Picture
Main character from Marionetta webtoon
Picture
3rd form Lavos, Nomad on Ipad
Picture
Noah from Matt Rhodes' Dead Gods series. Nomad on Ipad
The Elden Ring cosplay is still ongoing. Focusing on the metal/prop bits now. Excellent timing with winter incoming. OTL
I should have it finished eventually. I'm hoping for a great photoshoot afterwards. 
0 Comments

Claymore/Elden Ring Priscilla Finished

12/28/2024

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Finished up my most recent portfolio project. Mail goals were to showcase a character in UE5, use hair cards, and do something that might fit into a Souls-like IP.
Link to the ArtStation post for those who want a more technical breakdown: ​https://www.artstation.com/azureprops
0 Comments

Sculpting gauntlets (AEW and Lies of P)

9/2/2024

0 Comments

 
Two major commissions came to light recently. At the end of August, the House of Black debuted the 3 gauntlets that I worked with Kiril of Flux Tide Designs on. And during DragonCon, Kyle of Cute Monster Props debuted his Lies of P cosplay. Both involved working in 3d for use on a person's body. Which is soo much different than just making something that the hands interact with, like a weapon.

For the House of Black gauntlets, I did the concepts with art direction by Flux Tide Designs, as well as all of the 3d work. The base was started on the arm that can be found in Zbrush, then adjusted for real world proportions. I was also provided the base gloves to get a better measurement of what the clients would wear and their respective size.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Feathers replaced with real feathers in final piece, along with channels for real leather.
Each of the 3 break apart/connect with magnets for easy removal. 
Kiril handled the printing, sanding, painting and finishing of the trio. Some of the printing was done via FDM and others via resin. 
Along with those, I worked on an arm for Kyle. He provided two scans of his arm, with one focusing on this hand. He'd also attached a piece of plastic to his forearm for use in scaling. I had to do a bit of clean up and combining because neither scan would have worked as is.
Picture
Final sculpt of the arm
To keep it comfortable, Kyle cast the bicep and parts of the hands out of a flexible material and managed to make them look metallic, which can be pretty difficult but turned out beautifully.  
Picture
3D of the arm by me, everything else by Kyle and Storytellercosplay, pic by Kyle

​If you're interested in more in-depth look at how they made the rest of these projects, you should check out their other socials. They both post great stuff. 
​
https://x.com/FluxTideDesigns​
https://www.instagram.com/fluxtidedesigns/
https://x.com/cutemonsterprop
https://www.instagram.com/cutemonsterprops/​

On my part, I learned I need to be extra precise with the fingers. Both projects needed them adjusted/reprinted. I'm hoping to add a higher detail 3d scanned male hand to my library for future projects, just to make sure mistakes like this don't happen again.  
0 Comments

Sword of Dios files up on my shop!

8/14/2024

0 Comments

 
Took forever, but I'm finally done with the creation of this 3D kit. 
Years ago, I made a Sword of Dios resin-casted kit that was pretty popular. I feel like I sent out 1-2 of those swords a week. Even sent them off to Australia and Germany. 
Picture
Product photo for my Etsy that showed off the resin kit. RIP
Needless to say, I got burned out making them so often. And I don't really do resin kits anymore... But I've been hit up a bunch by people who thought that I had made the OG via 3d printing (sorry, totally hand sculpted ;-;) So, I had nothing to offer them, until now. 
I sculpted this in Zbrush, measuring as I went along, to try and match the dimensions as much as possible. 
3D files include the 3 pieces that make up the sword handle and then 5 pieces for the blade. It's HIGHLY recommended to use a 5mm rod to help strengthen the print and aid with alignment, as I did hollow the blade to incorporate one. 
Picture
Zbrush render of the kit
Picture
Entire kit in Netfabb, to show slices
0 Comments

D.VA Porsche project

8/8/2024

0 Comments

 
I was brought on by my brother Carl, aka Alchemic Forms, to do the 3d work for the Porsche skin of the D.VA pistol. This would be for Alyson Tabbitha. 
Started in Plasticity and finished in Zbrush. Took about 3-4 days of digital work, with 4 main booleaned parts for easier resin printing. Carl handled the printing and finishing, with Alyson doing the final painting. 
Very happy with how this turned out. 
Currently working on a bunch of other contracts atm. Excited to show them off eventually. 
0 Comments

Elden Ring/Claymore project update May

5/12/2024

0 Comments

 
Finalized the sword design and started texturing in Substance. 
Also got pretty far on the hair cards. Still needs some polish, but GS CurveTools has made the entire process so much easier than my first attempt last year. 
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Elden Ring/Claymore Priscilla

1/31/2024

0 Comments

 
One of my first characters I ever made was Clare, and I meant to do Priscilla at the time too. But she sat barely blocked-out for years. Since getting laid off in Oct, I've been trying to find personal projects to test my skills. Don't get me wrong, I love stylized animals and cartoony things, but I wouldn't mind working on some more Souls-like stuff too. 

So, I decided to revamp Priscilla as if she were a boss in Elden Ring. This could have gone two ways: naked lady monster like Melenia, or fully armored with aspects of Priscilla's Awoken-form throughout the armor. I was really inspired by Keos Masons' recent Frog/Elden Ring work, so armor it is.  

At this stage, I'm focusing heavily on silhouette, trying to bring in those Awoken elements. Like her horn, the wings, the large clawed hands, and the blades on the arms. Also trying to bring in elements of the normal Claymore "outfit" like the white hair, large shoulder pads, skirt, white pants and long silver boots. 

I've been studying a ripped model of Rennala to get a good idea in terms of how From sets up their characters, textures are done, and usual poly count. Goal is to tackle this like I'm modding the game. 

End product I'm hoping for: UE5 scene using bought environmental assets for storytelling.
 
What I'm hoping to learn from this: 
1. Pushing my sculpting further, more mastery of Zbrush
2. Adapt to From's style, less cartoony that usual stuff. 
3. Use haircards on full character for first time and implement/shade properly in UE5. 
​
Picture
How she used to look, left unfinished from 2020
Picture
2024 Glowup
Picture
0 Comments

New Portfolio piece

12/22/2023

0 Comments

 
I got laid off at the beginning of Oct, so I've been focusing on my portfolio. 
Latest piece is Princess Lyra, an OC by my friend Christina Gardner. 
Breakdown available on my artstation 
Picture
0 Comments

Sculpting Armature STL now available!

11/29/2023

0 Comments

 
Just added the STL for the sculpting armature to my shop. It's V2 of the armature that I used when sculpting my Witchblade arm.
Picture
V1 armature
Picture
V1 armature with witchblade sculpt
V2 has been cleaned up, since the original was made years ago, early in my 3d career. Should be easier for others to work with. 
Picture
V2 digital render
Picture
V2 test print in ABS at 50% size

Sculpting Armature STL Print File

$10.00
Shop
0 Comments

Lady D renders

10/21/2023

0 Comments

 
Updating my portfolio, and I finally got some good renders of the Lady D sculpt I did for CuteMonsterProps back in 2021. 
Sculpt was done in Zbrush with these renders done in Marmoset Toolbag 4.
Picture
Picture
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Author

    Prop maker, Cosplayer, 3D Artist. On a journey to make cool things. 

    Archives

    November 2025
    December 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    May 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    August 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    October 2020
    February 2020

    Categories

    All
    3D
    Chrono Cross
    Chrono Trigger
    Commission
    Contract Work
    Cosplay
    Elden Ring
    Props

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Videos
  • Contact
  • Shop